Stealing Promises

by Brina Courtney

  “What time is it?” Levi asked shaking her out of her beautiful thoughts.

  She sat up slightly, “I don’t know, why?”

  Levi reached over to the bedside table and grabbed his watch, “I have an appointment before we go out tonight.”

  Victoria pulled the sheets up around her body and sat up completely, “An appointment? On my best friend’s birthday?”

  Levi hopped out of bed and started to pull his pants on. “It won’t take me long, I promise.”

  “Is this something for work? On a Saturday?”

  Levi turned away from her, “Uh, yeah, I have to go in to the office and get something quickly. Chat with a client, shouldn’t be more than a couple hours.”

  “So are you coming back here first, or meeting us there?”

  “Uh,” he turned back to face her while buttoning up his shirt, “I’ll send you a text. I’m really sorry to run off like this, I had no idea how late it was! Claire is going to be here any minute.”

  He quickly kissed her on the cheek and let himself out the door.

  She raised her hand to tell them that she loved him before he left but he was already gone. It wasn’t like him to plan something on the weekend for work, especially when he knew they had plans. Victoria tried not to read too much into it as she grabbed the outfit she had picked out for that evening and started to get ready. Only a few minutes later Claire called and told her she was waiting downstairs. Victoria bounced down the steps eager to see her best friend after a few weeks apart. The petite blonde stood next to the door waving. Quickly Victoria forgot her concerns about Levi and put all her focus into her friend’s birthday.

  Victoria and Claire caught up in what had been going on in each other’s lives for an hour or so before leaving for the club. She had texted Levi a few times but he hadn’t responded yet, and she was getting impatient.

  “I don’t understand his problem lately. I feel like he’s being so secretive all the sudden. Like last weekend didn’t even mean anything.”

  Claire looked at her from beneath her highlighted bangs. She flipped them off her face as she did whenever she was nervous. “I don’t know, I think you need to give him a little bit more time.”

  Victoria sighed, “But last weekend… I mean don’t you feel like that propelled us into a new level of our relationship?”

  “Well you told me on the phone that it wasn’t a real proposal. That it’s a promise ring, right?”

  “Yeah but…”

  Claire interrupted her, “Tor, sometimes you just have to let things happen. I know that’s really difficult for you, but you never know what fate has in store.”

  “Yeah I guess you’re right,” Victoria conceded. Claire was always the one to bring Victoria back to reality. It was one of the reasons they had stayed best friends for so long.

  Claire put her arm around Victoria shoulders, “Hey, cheer up! It’s my birthday, and it’s going to be awesomesauce.”

  “You’re going to be on some type of sauce tonight alright.” Victoria laughed. She knew that Claire was right. It was time to let loose and have a little fun, something that rarely happened in her day-to-day life. She was always so focused on school and her future that she hardly ever took time to enjoy the present. Tonight would just be about having a good time and letting everything else fall away.

  ###

  Victoria drove to the club. Claire said she’d be getting a ride home with other friends. “It’ll give you and Levi a little alone time.” Victoria hadn’t mentioned to her the alone time they already shared earlier that day. “Did he get back to you yet?”

  Victoria checked her phone before they walked into to the club, “Yeah he said he is just going to meet us here. Should be here pretty soon.”

  Claire looked at her, “Did he say where he was?”

  Victoria’s shrugged, “Not really. I don’t know; this is just so unlike him.” Claire showed her ID to the bouncer and they walked in. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure everything will be fine. Now let’s go buy me my first legal drink!”

  Victoria smiled, “Definitely!”

  It was hard to see in the dark club but every once in a while Victoria could make out a face as the light shone down on them. Most of the girls had long sleeveless tunics on with tight skinny jeans and flats, not unlike her own outfit. There are plenty of attractive guys here for Claire to flirt with. Maybe she would find someone on the dance floor. The DJ booth was on the opposite side of the club away from the bar, but it was still hard to hear.

  “What do you want?”

  “HUH?” Claire yelled over the music.

  Victoria laughed, “I said what do you want to drink?”

  “Oh, ummm… Whiskey Sour.”

  “Got it.” Victoria yelled their order to the bartender and looked out over the crowd. “This place is nuts!” She yelled at Claire.

  “Yeah I know! Tonight is going to be EPIC!” Victoria watched as Claire waved to a few friends from school she invited.

  “You go, I’ll wait for the drinks.”

  Claire smiled and bounced away.

  Victoria was rocking her head to the beat when she heard a voice behind her she recognized. “What does a girl have to do to get a drink around here?”

  She flipped her blonde hair in Levi’s direction. “Took you long enough,” she said smugly.

  “Sorry, I can’t even say work was the problem.”

  “Oh, then why were you late?” This was particularly late, even for him.

  “Well,” he paused, “I was putting a deposit down on a place.”

  “No way, really?” Victoria was elated. She felt like Levi was taking this step for her. For them, for their future together. She wrapped her arms around him. “This is great!”

  He pulled back slightly laughing. “Yeah, well it’s just a little one bedroom, so I don’t think Claire will be happy.”

  “Claire? Wait, what?”

  He dangled a key in front of her. “Well, I mean she won’t have her own room, at our place.” He smiled broadly.

  “You got a place for us?” She squealed.

  Levi laughed, “Sorry about all the secrets babe. I just really wanted it to be a surprise.”

  “No! This is an amazing surprise. I can’t believe we’re moving in together.”

  “This is what you wanted, right?”

  There was no way she could use words to describe how she was feeling about his choice to move forward in their relationship. This was a big step, the real follow up to the promise that they had made last weekend. This was what she had been waiting for. She grabbed the key and then pulled his face towards her with her hands on his cheeks. She pulled him into a sultry kiss. They were interrupted when the bartender asked them if they wanted to keep open a tab. Victoria responded to him, “Yes! And we need two flutes of champagne please.”

  The bartender returned with their drinks Victoria toasted, “To us.”

  Levi added, “And to our future.”

  They clinked their glasses before swallowing down their drinks.

  “So, are you going to tell Claire the big news?” He asked craning his neck around to see where the birthday girl had gotten to.

  Victoria’s shook her head, “No. Tonight is her night, I’ll tell her in the morning. That is if she even remembers me tomorrow.” She pointed across the bar at Claire who was chatting with some college frat boys and enjoying their attention. When she looked back at Levi he was messing with his phone.

  “What are you trying to do?”

  He laughed, “You know I’m terrible at these things. I just wanted to take picture of us on our big night. Something to remember.”

  She grabbed the phone from his hand and pulled it out take a shot of the two of them. He dangled the keys in the picture. She put the phone on the bar and they continued to drink. When a song came on that was one of Claire’s favorites she came over and dragged them away from the bar to dance with her. While Victoria moved to the music she couldn’t beli
eve how happy she was. What an amazing night! Spending it with her best friend and the one she had promised herself to. It seemed like nothing could go wrong.

  When the night ended Claire left with some guy named Brad. Victoria and Levi were making their way to the car when Levi realized that he had never gotten his phone back from Victoria. “Do you have my phone?”

  She shook her head feeling the alcohol slosh around in her brain. “No… I think I left it at the bar.” She admitted.

  “Shit,” he said as his hand searched his pockets, “I’ll be right back, okay?”

  Victoria nodded. “No problem, I’ll just wait over near the car.” She pointed across the parking lot.

  “You sure you’re okay alone?”

  “Yeah, it’s fine, there are plenty of people around.”

  “Okay,” He gave her one more quick kiss before jogging back to the club.

  It was dark, too dark, and Victoria walked as fast as she could across the nearly empty parking lot. Her heels clicked on the pavement as she tried to stay vigilant. She hadn’t had too much to drink, but it was enough that her senses felt impaired. She didn’t realize she was being followed until she got closer to her vehicle.

  A man in a gray hoodie started walking towards her. She quickly tried to get her keys out of her bag but she wasn’t fast enough.

  “Give me your purse,” he yelled at her, now only a few feet away.

  She denied him, moving back next to the car. He came close and she could feel the cold metal on back of her bare legs. “The purse, now!”

  “Help!” She screamed praying someone would hear her. She looked around, but all the people who left the club at the same time as her had disappeared, she was completely alone.

  He made a grab for the bag but at the moment Levi strode over to the pair with such confidence that she was sure he would scare the other man away. Oddly, the man continued to verbally assault Victoria.

  “Just give me the purse you little bitch,” the man seethed.

  “No, now get away,” Victoria moaned, one hand clutching on her Louis Vuitton bag.

  Levi stepped closer. “I don’t think she’ll be doing that. Now get away from my girlfriend.”

  Levi stepped between Victoria and the man just before Victoria saw the man reach in his pocket.

  “Get away from us!” Levi yelled at the man while he put his hands out, shielding Victoria from harm.

  The man pulled his hand from his pocket and said nothing, just pulled the trigger. The shot went off before Victoria had ever seen the gun. Victoria’s initial reaction was to drop to the ground, but instead she was holding Levi up. She then began lowering them both slowly, as her sensations came back to her. Her hearing was off. Everything sounded fuzzy and far away. She screamed knowing something was very wrong. The man in the gray sweatshirt was sprinting away in the other direction. He hadn’t gotten away with her purse, but he had taken something so much more precious to her.

  Victoria held Levi in her arms as the blood seeped out of his body and covered the white pavement. He had a severe wound to the stomach. She kept screaming, “HELP! Somebody please help us!” After what felt like minutes had passed, a person stopped long enough to pull out their cell phone and call 911. An older woman with a small dog tried to ask her some questions about who she was and what did she know about Levi getting hurt, but Victoria couldn't answer her. A rusty scent filled her nostrils and she tried to hold down the vomit. She needed to stay strong, for Levi. She was all that he had to hold onto now.

  “Levi,” she said, “you promise me something right now. You promise me that you won't leave me.”

  Levi smiled weakly and put his hand over his wound. He pulled his other hand up and brought her hand onto his chest.

  “I promise to love you,” he gurgled out. But it sounded like something was stuck in his throat. Victoria knew what it was; it was his blood. A single trickle of the dark substance fell from the side of his mouth onto Victoria’s arm. She didn’t know much about gunshot wounds, but she knew that blood coming from someone’s mouth was a terrible sign. A fatal sign.

  As she held him she cried, her salty tears covering Levi’s face and wound. Her hand was now covered in his own red fluid, and she knew he had lost a lot of blood.

  “I won’t let you go,” she said. “I can’t, you’re supposed to stay here with me. Levi, stay here with me.”

  He lifted his hand from hers to touch her face. She could see him wince as he reached up to touch her. “I can’t stay, you know I can’t. I was meant to protect you. I did my job. You have to do the rest on your own.” She could hear his whispers becoming raspier. She knew she was losing time.

  “Where is the ambulance?” she yelled. Several people were now around her, including a few people she had seen inside the club. A woman who sounded far away said she had called and they should be here any moment.

  Levi began coughing up more blood and someone suggested turning him on his side, but Victoria knew it wouldn’t help. Levi was dying. The love of her life was leaving her.

  “No,” Victoria said, “you promised me! We’re together forever, remember?” He didn’t respond. “Levi, remember?”

  He looked past her for a moment, the light fading from his beautiful brown eyes.

  “Levi, tell me you remember. Levi tell me something!” She could feel she was losing him. She pulled him tighter to her chest and began to rock, tears still steadily falling from her eyes.

  Levi turned his head and looked straight into Victoria’s eyes. “I’ll always be close, I promise. Love you.”

  “I love you, too,” she said through her sobs. A few people gasped nearby as Levi took his last breath. The ambulance arrived to find Victoria cradling her lost love. They attempted to pry him from her arms, to attempt life saving measures, but she wouldn’t let go. Eventually they had to physically remove her to get him into the ambulance. They wrapped her in a blanket and allowed her to sit with him. She clung desperately to his hand, praying he would just open his eyes and breathe.

  “Levi, why won’t you breathe?” she continued to mumble to herself as the technicians tried to ask her questions.

  Victoria felt foggy, but she heard a voice break through the ramblings in her head. “What’s your name, hon?” A black woman with braids on top of her head was speaking to her. She had on a blue uniform. Somewhere it registered to Victoria that this woman could help her. Maybe she could help Levi.

  “Victoria.”

  “Okay, Victoria, who is this?” She pointed to the lifeless figure in front of her.

  “My Levi.”

  She nodded with understanding. “Yes, I can see that. Is there someone we can call, when we get to the hospital?”

  The woman had a kind voice and suddenly it dawned on Victoria to ask, “Is he dead?”

  The woman’s dark brown eyes darted to the front of the ambulance before she responded, “Yes, I’m sorry, but he’s gone.” She put her hand on Victoria’s back and rubbed it lightly. Victoria flinched under her touch.

  Victoria nodded but she still gripped Levi’s hand tightly. She would will him to live. She would have to.

  When they arrived at the hospital they unloaded Levi’s stretcher. He was strapped to it, and as they unloaded him, Victoria had to release his hand. She sat crying silently in the ambulance as she watched the technicians zip up the body bag around Levi. She hadn’t even realized they’d put him in a bag. When had they done that? And what hospital was she at? Did anyone know they were there?

  She slowly climbed out of the back of the ambulance, hugging the blanket tighter around her body. She realized she felt incredibly cold, almost like because Levi wasn't here anymore the world couldn’t be warm.

  The technician from before, the woman with dark hair, approached her slowly and carefully. “Honey? Who can we call for you?”

  Victoria heard the voice, but it didn't make sense in her mind, all that she could think about was the buzzing and Levi lying on the ground. She felt
like she was going to cry, but the tears refused to come. She knew there was a dark hole inside her now, and she wanted to crawl into it and never come out.

  Finally she realized the woman standing next to her was asking her questions, so she looked at her to acknowledge her presence.

  “My father, my father is Joe Blane. Where am I?” she asked quietly.

  The woman nodded, as if she knew that name. She put her hands around Victoria’s shoulders, and even though Victoria wanted to move away, the woman directed her into the emergency room to get checked out.

  She sat Victoria down on a cot and went over to a doctor holding a chart. The technician from the ambulance pointed at Victoria and the doctor nodded his head, taking off his glasses and rubbing his face. He approached Victoria carefully and slowly, almost like she was an injured puppy. She didn’t understand why he would treat her like that. Nothing was wrong with her. Levi needed help, not her.

  “Good evening Victoria, I'm going to take a look at your ears, all right?”

  Victoria made no moves to let the doctor know that she was even in there. She wasn’t even sure she was in her own body anymore. It felt as though she was just watching this whole situation from the outside, and in slow motion. None of this was really happening. This didn't happen to people like Victoria and Levi. He had just got them an apartment. They were celebrating Claire’s birthday. Where was Claire?

  The doctor moved around her slowly so as not to spook her and shone a light into her ears. “Looks like you have some small damage, Victoria. Can you hear the words I'm saying?”

  Victoria realized that he was talking a bit louder, but she still couldn't fully understand him. It was then that she realized her hearing was affected because of the shot.

  She turned her head towards the doctor, a solemn look on her face and said, “Is someone coming for me?”

  The doctor looked taken aback, surprised by her sudden response. “Yes. I believe they've called your parents. They should be here very soon.”